


ceiling stars and childhood scars

by Michie_the_artist



Series: home for christmas series [1]
Category: Boy Meets World, Girl Meets World
Genre: Almost Kiss, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Era, Childhood Memories, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, Gay, Hot Chocolate, I Don't Even Know, M/M, Pining, Prompt Fic, Roommates, Sharing a Bed, Sharing a Room, Soulmates, Stars, You cannot tell me otherwise, eric is whipped, they were a couple
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-22
Updated: 2020-12-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:54:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27791098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Michie_the_artist/pseuds/Michie_the_artist
Summary: The two of them are alone in his room, sitting on the floor next to his bed. Eric is picking at the carpet, twisting his fingers in the fibers and pulling until the carpet itself lifts. Jack is beside him, resting against the side of Eric’s bed, head tilted toward the ceiling, eyes reflecting the faint light of the old glow stars stuck to the ceiling. When they first arrived, Jack had set his bags down and immediately commented on the glow stars (“I can’t believe you have ceiling stars! I always wanted them when I was a kid.”).---Eric brings his roommate Jack home for Christmas but starts to catch feelings that he knows could mess up everything.I'm not good at descriptions lol I promise the fic itself is much better than this sentence!!
Relationships: Cory Matthews & Eric Matthews, Jack Hunter/Eric Matthews (Boy Meets World)
Series: home for christmas series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2092275
Comments: 19
Kudos: 150





	ceiling stars and childhood scars

**Author's Note:**

> hi! hopefully if you're here it means you have elite taste and are a jeric truther (they are soulmates, fight me!!). if not, see this fic as an opportunity to be converted. in all seriousness, thank you for clicking on this fic and for giving it a read! i was inspired by a writing prompt i saw on pinterest (1. the smell of chocolate & 2\. a scar from childhood) and immediately wrote this instead of studying for finals 0_0 lol, anyway, hopefully it was worth it!

Eric really regrets bringing Jack home.

It just seemed like such a good idea at the time; Jack had nowhere else to go for the holidays and Eric wanted an excuse to spend more time with him after he’d broken up with his most recent girlfriend. His family was down for it, too- his parents practically begged Jack to come, Morgan was excited to have someone else to boss around, and Cory was only against it because he didn’t want to get kicked out of his bedroom. It was a win-win. 

Except it wasn’t, because for some inexplicable reason, Jack decided to be infinitely hotter over the holidays, so much so that it actually hurt to be around him. He was just too fucking good with the family: too nice to Morgan, too comfortable around his parents. He wasn’t acting like a friend or a guest, he was acting like Eric’s boyfriend, doing his best to impress and integrate into the family, and that of course, made Eric realize that he wants Jack to be his boyfriend. Which makes it that much harder to do the one thing he can’t not do for the holidays, spend time alone with Jack.

The two of them are alone in his room, sitting on the floor next to his bed. Eric is picking at the carpet, twisting his fingers in the fibers and pulling until the carpet itself lifts. Jack is beside him, resting against the side of Eric’s bed, head tilted toward the ceiling, eyes reflecting the faint light of the old glow stars stuck to the ceiling. When they first arrived, Jack had set his bags down and immediately commented on the glow stars (“I can’t believe you have glow stars! I always wanted them when I was a kid.”).

Downstairs, Eric’s mom is making hot chocolate, and the smell is strong even through the locked door. At some point, she yells up to them that it’s ready, and Jack jumps up almost immediately, races downstairs to get his and Eric’s mugs. Eric can hear, from upstairs, him thank Mrs. Matthews profusely, hear her wave him off and be extra nice as she always is to Eric and Cory’s friends (and other guests). 

Jack hands a mug to Eric after he sits down, and their fingers touch when Eric goes to slip his hand into the handle. Eric tries not to think much of it, but Jack waggles his eyebrows and winks, classic Jack, and it does something to his stomach.

Eric watches with an unwittingly tentative gaze as Jack brings the mug to his lips, watches the muscles in his throat move and shift and tighten as he swallows. And he hates himself for being so rapt by Jack, by his lips, and his stupid grin, and his stupid hair- lips he wishes he could kiss and hair he wishes he could run his fingers through in an intimate moment between the two of them. Now, with the door closed and the two of them riding this hot-chocolate high or coziness and fully bellies, is as good a time as any, and Eric imagines grabbing Jack’s mug, putting it aside, and kissing him, but he knows he can’t. 

So he’s stuck, wanting and yearning, constantly nervous about letting his eyes linger too long lest he gets caught, sitting in his childhood bedroom with his best friend and crush. Jack is completely oblivious, enjoying the silence between long sips of cocoa, occasionally winking at Eric playfully over the rim when their eyes meet. 

“I was thinking,” Jack begins, setting his mug aside, “I’m here at my buddy’s house for Christmas, and this is the perfect opportunity to learn some embarrassing childhood memories.”

Eric groans, placing his head in his hands to hide his red face. “Please, no.”

“No way around it, Eric. But, I’m a kind dude, magnanimous some might say-“

“That’s my word of the day,” Eric looks up at Jack between his fingers. 

“I know. Thought it would be fun to try to do the challenge with you.” Jack carries on, seemingly unaware of Eric’s softened demeanor. “I’m giving you a choice. Tell me a story about your childhood and I won’t ask your parents.”

“Do I have to?”

“What are the chances your mom has a photo album?”

“Ugh, okay, okay.” 

Eric sits back against his bed, lifting his hands from the carpet to his lap, fiddles with his fingers while he thinks of a story. 

“I’ve got one. Okay.” Jack turns towards Eric, grinning, and Eric’s heart does a flip. Fuck.

“So... when I was like, thirteen, I wanted to be a skater. I bought a skateboard and stuff and I was all excited to go to a skatepark with my friends. Dad let me go, but he had two rules: I have to take Cory with me- ugh- and I stay on the beginning ramp. Okay, so cool. I take stupid Cory with me and I stay on the smaller ramp. I’m doing my thing, and I suck-”

Jack laughs, and Eric stops to smile, look down at his hands. 

“Like I really, really, sucked. I used to fall all the time, that’s what makes this story so sad. I wasn’t even good-”

Jack is leaning against him now, and he grabs Eric’s forearm, sending heat to Eric’s face and chills down his spine. Eric tries not to lean into Jack’s touch; he denies himself the urge to really look at Jack because he knows he’ll be utterly fucked if he does- he’s seconds away from moving his head and kissing him, so every concession is a dangerous one. _I’ve got to get a hold of myself. Stupid, Eric._

When they settle down, Eric eases back into the story, using the memory to keep his mind (and wandering eyes) from Jack. 

“...So, it’s a Friday night. It’s late- like 9:30, which was late to me then- and my friends and I were going to meet up at the skate park. So I have a choice- I can either sneak out and not tell anyone or I can wait for my little brother to tag along and ruin my fun. The choice was obvious, and next thing I know, I’m across town on the ramp having the time of my life.” 

“Then, one of my friends was like, ‘Dude, we should go on to one of the bigger ramps, the beginner ramp sucks’ and me, being young and stupid, agreed. So my friends and I left the nice, easy safety of the kiddy ramp for the big dogs- there were older teens doing tricks and getting serious air and it was intimidating but still exciting. There was a railing that was razor sharp from people’s boards sliding across it and of course, my friends wanted me to try it out.” 

“Oh no,” Jack said, preemptively cringing. “Let me guess, you fell?” 

“Yep. Went up there, somehow jumped onto the railing on my board but lost it immediately. The board slipped out from under me and I fell, slicing my back open on the railing.” 

“No,” Jack gasped, still gaping in disbelief when Eric nodded. 

“And because I didn’t want my dad to know, I snuck back home and up to my room without telling anyone. I definitely needed stitches, and the scar healed so badly because I was 13 and couldn’t reach my back to take care of the cut.” 

“That’s both gross and awesome.” Jack pauses. “Can I see the scar?”

Eric tenses. It’s an innocent question, the kind of question guys ask their friends. Looking at bruises and cuts and scars is cool, they are essentially currency. Normally, he would happily show off his scar, but it’s different. He’s already in too deep with Jack, so much so that the thought of pulling off his shirt and letting Jack see his back, the possibility of Jack touching him is too much. But it’s Jack, and he’s looking at him with those fucking eyes and the next thing Eric knows, he’s pulling off his sweater.

Eric is suddenly aware of the heat in his room once he tosses his sweater aside, and he’s even more aware of Jack’s eyes on him as he slips his fingers under the hem of his shirt. He wishes he were stripping for Jack under more favorable and comfortable circumstances, but the nothingness of the moment is exactly what makes it so agonizing. He knows he’s making this a bigger deal than it has to be, but he can’t help but hold his breath as he feels the fabric drag up his body and over his head to rest in his lap. He can’t stop his heart from racing when he turns to give Jack a better look; when Jack whispers ‘wow’ at the sight of it. 

“Can I-?”

Eric doesn’t even have time to turn his head or nod or even hum his approval when Jack brings his hand to Eric’s back, runs his fingers along the length of the scar. He traces it, his fingers dragging lightly from Eric’s shoulder blade diagonally to where it tapers off at the snap of his back, the scar now mostly sub-surface level, the skin smooth and discolored. Eric is grateful that Jack can’t see him- he’s biting his lip and holding his breath, and he’s trying to keep himself from relishing the feeling of Jack’s cool fingers against his warm skin. _I can’t believe this is happening._

The moment is dragging, and Eric can feel it, the tension in the air is palpable. He wonders why Jack is taking so long- though there is a part of him that is a little to excited to be touched by him- and he has half a mind to turn around and-

“Hey, idiots, stop making out, mom’s going through the photo album,” Cory says, bursting into the room all of the sudden, the sound of the door slamming into the wall startling Jack and Eric. He runs downstairs without another word, leaving Jack and a sheepish Eric to sit with his words.

“I can totally see why you tried to ditch him,” Jack jokes, slightly chuckling to lighten the mood. 

“Yeah, little brothers, am I right?” Eric pulls his shirt on hastily, standing after he pulls his sweater over his head and walking to the door. “After you, sir.”

“Don’t mind if I- oh wait,” Jack pauses, turning on his heel in the doorway, suddenly running his hand through Eric’s hair, looking back at Eric afterwards, offering a hushed, “the, uh, sweater” to fill the suddenly very heavy silence. 

“T-thanks,” Eric whispers back, now incredibly aware of how close to Jack’s face he is, how easy it would be to just- 

“ERIC!”

_Fucking damn it._

“Coming! Give me a freaking second,” he yells back, partly angry at Cory for squandering the moment and (mostly) at himself for getting roped in, for being too into the moment. Jack is shaking his head and laughing, seemingly oblivious to their almost kiss, if Eric can even call it that. 

“C’mon,” Jack says, taking Eric’s hand and pulling him out of the room. He lets go when they get downstairs, going to sit on the armrest of the couch near Eric’s parents, peering over past Morgan and Mrs. Matthews to see the photo album in her lap. 

“You boys are here just in time! We’re going through photos of sweet baby Eric!”

“What?” Eric exclaims as he sits down in the armchair adjacent to the couch. He shoots Jack look, a mix between defeat and pleading, and when Jack laughs at him and specifically asks Mrs. Matthews to flip to bath-time pics of Eric, he knows it’s pointless. 

_So much for ‘giving me a choice’,_ Eric thinks, burying his head in his hands to hide the blush spreading across his face. As embarrassing as it is, he secretly likes that Jack is here; he’s glad he invited him. The idea of Jack being a part of his family, being in on the family jokes, laughing with everyone during silly times, being there for Eric, even if it drives Eric wild that he can’t have Jack in the way he wants to- even if all he can get is this: Jack, in his living room, carrying on with the family; Jack, in Eric’s bedroom, touching his scar and fixing his hair, completely unaware of the effect it has on Eric, oblivious of the longing it triggers. He’s okay with that, not resigned, not complacent, but content. As long as Jack is there, as long as he’s a part of Eric’s life, he’s happy.

Later, when the two of them are back in his room, lying under the faint green glow stars, Jack somewhere beside him, Eric says into the darkness, “I’m glad you came home with me.”

He doesn’t expect a reply, but it comes not long after, a whisper. “Me too, Eric.”

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! This is my first boy meets world fic mostly because I had no clue there was even an active/existing fandom for the show but im glad to find there is! i definitely want to write more for jack/eric in the future, and hopefully this might be a part of a Christmas series 👀
> 
> [Also, check me out if you get a chance](https://michietheartist.carrd.co/#) <3
> 
> Anyway, love y’all! 
> 
> Keep reading, keep dreaming!  
> 🖤Michie


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